San Jose man found sane in Louis Vuitton purse slaying

SAN JOSE -- It's safe to say that a San Jose man who killed his mistress during an argument triggered by an expensive Louis Vuitton purse has seen his last designer handbag for quite a while.

After deliberating for less than a day, a jury concluded Thursday that Peter Shui was sane in August 2011 when he stabbed Stella Zheng more than 11 times. Shui now faces a prison sentence of 16 years to life rather than an indefinite term in a cushier state mental hospital.

If he'd qualified for the hospital, he might have been released after being treated; now, he will not be even eligible for parole until he serves 16 years.

Shui, 50, claimed he had a psychotic break after drinking more than two bottles of wine and hearing Zheng insult his wife over his wife's reaction to seeing Zheng with a white monogram "LV" bag, typically worth about $2,000.

But the jury did not buy it. Instead, the panel convicted him of second-degree murder Wednesday, then dubbed him sane Thursday after three medical experts testified about his state of mind at the time of the crime.

"This is a classic case in which a defendant had too much to drink and acted on his anger and rage, not any kind of mental defect or illness," prosecutor Erin West said. "The alcohol lowered his inhibitions and he reacted poorly."

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The killing was touched off by a chance encounter between the younger mistress and Shui's wife, Mei. The two women ran into each other at a West Valley shopping center.

"She (Mei) sees this woman (Zheng) with a designer bag and automatically suspects Peter bought it for her," defense attorney Rod O'Connor said during the trial.

Enraged because Shui was an unemployed gambler who could barely support his family, Mei berated Shui.

But Shui pointed out that Zheng, 34, purchased it herself; she regularly bought luxury bags from Louis Vuitton and Chanel and resold them for a profit in China.

By late that evening, the married couple were at home and getting ready to go to their separate bedrooms as they usually did. Then Zheng phoned and Shui agreed to come to her apartment.

Zheng began hurling vicious insults about Mei and her jealousy over the luxury pocketbook. Then she verbally attacked Shui's mother.

Shui went into the kitchen and got a knife, came back and warned Zheng that if she didn't stop, he'd kill her. When she didn't, he stabbed her repeatedly.

Neighbors overheard the argument -- and heard Zheng moaning for up to 15 minutes -- but no one called police. Shui was the one who called 911 to report he'd killed his girlfriend, but not until an hour or so later. By then Zheng had bled to death.